The Important Role Community Service Plays at Lawrenceville

The School's Community Service Program encourages all Lawrentians to connect with the greater community, giving them the opportunity to serve—and learn from—a variety of people outside the students' immediate world. Every student who attends the School for two or more years is required to complete a minimum of 40 hours of community service prior to graduation. Students attending Lawrenceville for only one year as seniors or postgraduates must complete a minimum of 20 hours of community service.

This past fall semester, I spent every Wednesday afternoon volunteering at the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen tutoring adults who were trying to pass... Read More

Students may receive credit for volunteer work done during School vacations and before their coming to Lawrenceville if:

The work is done after the start of their ninth grade year;

It meets the program criteria, and

The Community Service Documentation Form is completed by a supervisor. Documentation for work done to meet Lawrenceville's requirement must be received no later than April 1 of a student's Fifth Form year.

A sample of weekly community service projects:

Helping children with their homework at after school programs

Playing with preschoolers in daycare centers for low income families

Teaching computer skills to senior citizens

Teaching children to ice skate on our rink and play golf on our golf course

Teaching adults with developmental delays to play tennis on our courts

Knitting with adults at a senior center

Circle/Crescent Requirement

During their Third and Fourth Form years, all students must complete 20 hours of their overall 40-hour commitment with one project in which they interact directly with a population dealing with a social problem or a special need. The remaining 20 hours may be earned at any time after the start of the Second Form year and through any kind of volunteer work (other than campaign work) for one or more nonprofit organizations that serve the larger community.

Lawrenceville offers many opportunities for students to do community service work during the School year. Each term, students may choose among 30 different weekly projects in the Trenton-Princeton-Lawrenceville area. Typically, students do these weekly projects on a Tuesday evening if they are playing a School sport, or on a Wednesday or Friday afternoon if they are involved in House or lifetime athletics. In addition, there are requests from area non-profits for help with events and many activities that are organized by students throughout the year that require volunteer help. The Lawrenceville student body completes more than 13,000 hours of community service during a typical school year.

Under the leadership of the Vice President for Community Service, the Community Service Council (composed of students who want to take a leadership role in community service) is responsible for organizing projects and for keeping the Houses informed about community service matters.

Students completing 200 hours of community service during their high school years are honored with membership in the OVAL Society, which honors Outstanding Volunteers at Lawrenceville and those completing more than 400 hours become members of the McClellan Society.